Max C. Hugel, an owner-breeder and one the owners of New Hampshire's Rockingham Park, died at his Ocala home this past Wednesday at the age of 81. The cause of death was cancer.
Hugel's life reads like a Horatio Alger tale. He was born in New York City of European immigrants and never knowing his father, who died while Hugel's mother was pregnant with him.
"I wasn't born with a silver spoon," he told me. "I don't think we had any spoons."
Foaling season is in full swing, and few things can spur hopes and dreams more than seeing the newest arrivals by a young stallion.
"From a stallion manager's point of view, this is the most exciting time there is," said Don Litz of Maryland Stallion Station in Glyndon.
Five popular Maryland stallions who stood their first year in 2006 have babies on the ground. The first reported foal by a stallion from this year's freshman class is a bay colt by Dance With Ravens born on Jan. 11 at Tom and Chris Bowman's Dance Forth Farm in Chestertown, Md.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Leading Virginia breeder Edward P. "Ned" Evans is best known in the national press for breeding Saint Liam, winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic and Horse of the Year in 2005.
Saint Liam was a bay son of Saint Ballado out of the Quiet American mare Quiet Dance, a stakes winner that Evans raced and then retired to his breeding operation, Spring Hill Farm, near Casanova, Va. Saint Liam was euthanized last August after breaking his leg in a fall at Lane's End Farm in Kentucky.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Trudy McCaffery, the California horsewoman who died earlier this week after a lengthy illness, was well known for the numerous stakes horses that she campaigned in partnership with John Toffan.
In the late 1990's, they campaigned several stakes-winning California-breds, including two-time statebred horse of the year Free House.
Today's column continues its review of stallions who have entered stud duty in New York for the 2007 season.
Greeley's Galaxy: The Illinois Derby winner of 2005, he stands at Sugar Maple Farm in Poughquag, N.Y., for $7,500.
The speedy runner is by the Gone West stallion Mr. Greeley, sire of Grade 1 winners Nonsuch Bay and El Corredor and of two top 2-year-olds of 2006, Horse Greeley and Belgravia, both graded stakes winners.
The Ocala Breeders' Sales selected sale of 2-year-olds in training, conducted Feb. 12, registered solid numbers across the board. Summing up: 96 were sold compared with 93 in '06; the gross came in at $12.8 million versus $12.9 million last year. The average and the median dipped a few percentage points, and the rate of unsold also dipped, from 33 to 30 percent. The sale heretofore had been held at Calder Race Course, but was moved to Ocala to avoid complications from the Super Bowl, which was played near Calder in Miami.
Stephen and Sue Quick are living the dream of every small-scale breeder.
The Quicks maintain about 10 broodmares at their St. Omer's Farm in Forest Hill, Md., and their racing stable consists of four homebreds with trainer Chris Grove at Laurel Park. But they own two of the top older racemares currently in competition in Maryland.
The Quicks' duo won unrestricted stakes races at Laurel on two successive weekends in late January.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Jess Jackson is backing two more bills in Kentucky's legislature designed to prevent fraud in bloodstock transactions, including one that would require sellers to disclose a horse's ownership and whether it has been on anabolic steroids. But the move has raised concerns among some consignors and auction houses, who worry that the legislation is too broad in scope and no one will be able to comply with it.
Several new stallions have retired to the Empire State for stud duty in 2007.
A review of these newcomers begins today and continues next weekend.
Aggadan: This grandson of Northern Dancer, by Carnivalay, stands at Monhill Farm LLC in Pine Plains, N.Y., for $7,500.
A durable multiple stakes winner in Maryland, Aggadan placed to 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper in the Grade 1 Vosburgh Stakes.
Aggadan won or placed in 31 of 42 starts, of which 17 were stakes, earning $860,306.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The California-bred champions House of Fortune and Moscow Burning will be bred to leading stallions on opposite sides of the world in coming weeks.
Moscow Burning, the California-bred horse of the year in 2004, will be bred to Deep Impact or Agnes Taychon, according to officials with Shadai Farm in Japan.
Moscow Burning was sold to Shadai for $1 million at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale in 2006. The leading California-bred female with all-time earnings of $1,417,800, Moscow Burning, 7, is already based in Japan.